Labor and Social Protection

Today on Global Waste Picker Day, we explore the problem of solid waste management in the Gaza Strip and how it is compounded by poverty, unemployment, and severe restrictions imposed on residents.

With a high unemployment rate in Gaza (53.7 percent), and every second person in Gaza living below the poverty line, residents of the Gaza Strip also face greater technical, environmental, social, institutional and financial challenges, due in large part to restricted access to goods and services. Frequent border closures cause considerable delays for the entry and servicing of waste management equipment and these delays contribute to a fragmented and poorly managed waste collection and disposal system - exacerbating public health and environmental concerns.

“Earlier I was not able to contribute even Rs. 5,000 ($69) to run my house. Today, I contribute Rs. 15,000 ($208),” beams Lakshmi Amol Shinde from Wardha Lakshmi as she recalls the harsh financial conditions she and her family faced after her husband lost his job.

Social media has flourished with increasing digital connectivity. Internet users in the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates spend more than 3 hours per day on social media. Global social media platforms such as YouTube and WhatsApp as well as local ones such as Mxit, an instant messaging application in South Africa, and Odnoklassniki, the Russian version of Facebook, are attracting people's attention. The social interaction aspect of those communication initiatives redefines how individuals, business and government engage with each other.

Informality is the subject of many a report, study, intervention, policy brief, political agenda and fireside chat, and due to its prevalence, rightfully so. In emerging and developing economies, the informal sector accounted for 32% of GDP and 70% of employment in 2016. This is a concern because informal firms tend to be less productive than formal firms and pay workers less than their formal counterparts. Reversing informality is enticing and promises rewards in the form of potential tax revenues, productivity gains, and poverty eradicating capabilities. But the quest to bring more firms and workers into the formal sector has proven to be complex.

A malnourished child will face poorer outcomes as an adult. In South Asia, where malnutrition persists in multiple forms, improving nutrition in the early stages of life is critical to a child's future development and health. Credit: World Bank

But whether an individual consumes—or not—nutritious food is contingent upon a myriad of factors, ranging from the availability of certain foods, how convenient they can be turned into meals, or simply, if they meet consumers’ tastes.

Today, decision-making in most bureaucracies is based on rules. Why is that? Starting from Northcote, Trevelyan & Jowett, B. (1854) and Weber (1922), it has been argued that if bureaucracies rely on discretion, it will result in favouritism and collusion with substantial welfare and organizational costs.

“Sometimes we have to go to extremes in our effort to end poverty and that includes traveling to places where security is nearly non-existent, and risks are high”, says Shruti Vijayakumar, Transport Specialist at the World Bank. Photo: Shruti Vijayakumar, World Bank

As we drove along the rugged, potholed, rust-colored dirt road in a remote area of the Central African Republic (CAR), we passed a scattering of huts. These areas are strikingly destitute, having been looted by various armed groups passing through.

Sushumlata, the head of the gram panchayat of Dawan village, Bhojpur District, Bihar, conducts a meeting at the newly furbished panchayat office.

In a remote village in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, Sushumlata sits behind a spanking new desk in a newly-refurbished government building.

From the time she came to the village as a new bride, this young woman has chosen to get involved in community affairs by joining the Self Help Group (SHG) movement.

Later, armed with a master’s degree in social work, she joined active politics and, in 2016, was elected the Mukhiya, or head of the Dawan village Gram Panchayat – the local governance institution – under the seat reserved for women.

Sushumlata is the face of the government in this remote corner of Bihar. When we visit her in the newly upgraded Gram Panchayat building – refurbished under the World Bank (IDA) funded Bihar Panchayat Strengthening Project – she tells us how the newly painted and equipped building has made a difference.

A young man is busy on a computer beside her, helping an elderly gentleman apply for a government pension.